Page 2 - Centrelink blow

For couples where at least one person gets a pension, the first $103,800 of your combined
assets has a deemed rate of 0.25 per cent. Anything over $103,800 is deemed to earn 2.25 per
cent.

Centrelink uses this method to work out your eligibility for certain payments that takes into
account your future income as well as other streams of money like superannuation.

There are a little more than 771,000 people who receive government welfare and who have
income from other sources that are affected by deeming rates.

That includes about 460,000 aged pensioners, 96,000 on JobSeeker payments, and 62,000
disability support pension recipients.

Why are the deeming rates changing?

The government froze deeming rates at the start of the decade while the country was in the grips
of the pandemic.

The rate is typically tied to the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) official cash rate.

In mid-2022, the central bank began an interest rate-hiking cycle, which saw the cash rate jump
from the record low of 0.10 per cent to a 13-year high of 4.35 per cent.

As a result, the government kept deeming rates frozen to prevent people from suffering a double
hit to their finances.

But headline inflation has gradually been coming down from its December 2022 peak of 7.8 per
cent to 2.1 per cent at the June 2025 quarter.

Interest rates have also fallen three times this year and could drop again in November, which
would see the cash rate fall 1 per cent in 2025.